The UW Libraries has a large collection of digitized primary sources. This guide helps you identify the collections that are most likely to be helpful for your History Day topic.
Primary sources are the evidence of history. They are the first-hand accounts of an event or period of time created by participants or observers. The availability and kinds of primary sources vary with time period and topic. There are more sources available for the 19th, 20th and 21st century than for earlier periods. This is due to: An Increase in literacy Growth of mass media including newspapers, radio, television, twitter, etc. There are fewer sources available for earlier periods because: Less has survived Less was created (no newspapers, magazines, etc.) Less literacy so most people could not read or write so fewer letters & diaries Keep in mind that primary sources are usually in the original language. In other words most of the primary sources dealing with the French Revolution are in French rather than English. Relatively few primary sources have been translated into English.
This guide links to major full-text collections of primary sources that are available at the University of Washington Libraries as well as to a few freely-available collections. There is also a section on using UW Libraries Search for primary sources that are available in print or microfilm at the UW Libraries. History Day students will need to be on campus in order to use most of the full-text sources.
Before visiting the UW Libraries do the following.
Once in the library go to the relevant century page on this guide and begin searching the databases that have been identified as the most useful for their topic.
We generally have more sources for American history than for non-American and there are more sources available for the 19th & 20th centuries than for earlier periods.
Say you are working on William Lloyd Garrison especially his work on the abolition of slavery.
Step 1. Find some background information on Garrison. You can do a quick search in wikipedia or use the resources you have at your school library. You discover he lived from 1805-1879. Fill out the History Day Topic Information Worksheet with this information.
Step 2. So this means the primary sources you'll want to use are listed on the 19th c. page. Ask yourself what types of sources (newspapers, women's diaries, government reports, etc.) might cover William Lloyd Garrison. Since he was an abolitionist publisher, one primary source is his newspaper, The Liberator. He is also likely to be covered in other newspapers and magazines of the time. Perhaps there are published collections of his letters too. Check UW Libraries Search to see what we have written by Garrison. We have a 6-volume collection of his letters, The Letters of William Lloyd Garrison.
Step 3. Identify the newspapers & magazines on the 19th c. page that are likely to cover the topic of abolitionism and fit the time period (prior to the Civil War so before 1861). Possibilities include African American Newspapers, American Periodicals & the New York Times (you'll need to be at the UW Libraries to use these databases).
Step 4. Search each of these collections for articles by and about Garrison and about slavery and abolition. Be sure to save these articles on a thumbdrive so that you have a copy.
Step 5. You may also want to search, later when you're at home, the freely available primary source collections: Chronicling American, Library of Congress Digital Collections & HathiTrust.
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